Food variety and a healthy diet

Food variety means eating a wide variety of foods from within and across each of the five food groups, in the amounts recommended. Eating many different foods helps maintain a healthy and interesting diet that provides adequate nutrition. Eating a variety of foods can help prevent diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Five major food groups
It is important that you eat a balanced diet with foods from each of the five major food groups. Choosing a variety of foods within and across food groups is also important. Each food group contains at least one nutrient (called the ‘characterising’ nutrient) for which it makes a particularly rich contribution to the total diet. For example, the milk group is known as a rich source of protein, calcium and riboflavin.

In each food group, different foods provide more of some nutrients than others. If you eat a variety of foods from each group, you will probably get all the nutrients provided by the foods in that group. For example, some vegetables contain vitamin C (capsicums), while others (asparagus and spinach) are high in folate. Most of the variety in your foods should come from plant foods (fruits, vegetables and grains).

Choosing a variety of foods within each group will also help to make your meals interesting, so you don’t get bored with your diet. The major food groups are:

Fruit
Vegetables, legumes
Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes
Bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles
Milk, yoghurt, cheese.


These food groups are laid out in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

Ways to include the five food groups in your diet
It’s not hard to include foods from the major food groups into snacks and meals. Here are some suggestions:

- Fruit – this is easy to carry as a snack or it can be included as a part of most meals. For example, try a banana with your breakfast cereal, an apple for morning tea and an orange for an afternoon snack. Fresh whole fruit is recommended over fruit juices and drinks because fruit juices and drinks generally contain less fibre and are more concentrated sources of sugar and energy.
- Vegetables and legumes – raw or cooked vegetables can be used as a snack food or as a part of lunch and dinner. Salad vegetables can be used as a sandwich filling. Vegetable soup can make a healthy lunch. Stir-fries, vegetable patties and vegetable curries make nutritious evening meals. Try raw vegetables like carrot and celery sticks for a snack ‘on the run’.
Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes and tofu – these can all provide protein. It’s easy to include a mixture of protein into snacks and meals.
- Bread, cereals, rice, pasta and noodles – grains and cereals come from a wide variety of sources including breakfast cereals (oats, muesli and wholegrain flakes), wholemeal breads and biscuits, rice, barley, corn and varieties of pasta.
- Milk, yoghurt and cheese – eat a diverse range of dairy foods including milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and other types of cheese.

Sample serves from the five main food groups
Fruit
One serve equals:

1 medium piece (apple, banana, orange, pear)
2 small pieces (apricots, plums, kiwi fruit)
1 cup canned fruit
4 dried apricot halves
1½ tablespoons sultanas.

Vegetables and legumes
One serve equals:

75g (½ cup) cooked vegetables
75g (½ cup) cooked dried beans, peas or lentils
1 cup salad vegetables
1 potato.

Meat, poultry, fish and eggs
One serve equals:

65–100g cooked meat or chicken (½ cup lean mince, 2 small chops, 2 slices of roast meat)
½ cup cooked dried or canned beans, lentils, chick peas or split peas
80–100g fish fillet
2 small eggs
1/3 cup peanuts or almonds
¼ cup sunflower or sesame seeds.

Breads and cereals
One serve equals:

2 slices of bread
1 medium bread roll
1 cup cooked rice, pasta or noodles
1 cup porridge
½ cup muesli
1 1/3 cup breakfast cereal flakes.

Milk, yoghurt and cheese
One serve equals:

250ml (1 cup) fresh, long life or reconstituted dried milk
½ cup evaporated milk
40g (2 slices) cheese
200g (1 small carton) yoghurt.

Extra foods
‘Extra foods’ are those that do not contain significant amounts of nutrients and are considered not to be ‘core’ to the diet. They often contain high levels of fat, sugar and/or salt. Examples include margarine, butter and soft drinks.